Vienna, Third District: Landstraße, Part I

The third district of Vienna is now called "Landstraße", but actually consists of various former suburbs and neighbourhoods of which the historic "Landstraße" is only one. There are several of Vienna′s most significant sightseeing attractions in the third district. These are concentrated in the
north, where the third district meets the historic core of Vienna, the first district.

This is also the most expensive part of the Landstraße, a district generally rather affordable. It is this affordability that makes it a popular residential area in the
south, with a total population of approximately 80,000 - but also rather
unattractive for tourists. If any tourists make it that far, they come for the romantic
St. Marxer Friedhof cemetery, a Biedermeier (in a way "Germanic Regency") style cemetery.

When I found out that the cemetery had only recently been refurbished, I was rather surprised - it still looks pretty rotten and not in good shape at all. However, this creates a certain look and feel that make it one of Vienna′s most charming cemeteries (I am somewhat fond of cemeteries in general). Celebrity corpses include the
inventor of the sewing machine and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Third District: Faking the Posession of Mozart

The latter one was dumped in a mass grave of unknown location, which didn′t keep later generations from putting up a
tourism-friendly "Mozart grave". There is another one, even more fake, in the
Zentralfriedhof central cemetery. The area around St. Marx is now fashionable with large corporations and biotech companies. I used to shoot there at various occasions when I worked for the public broadcast, since some of Austria′s most important
research facilities can be found here.

The neighbourhood improved dramatically from the economic upturn that it experienced through the arrival of corporations and biotech nerds - as well as from the extension of the
U3 subway line. It allowed the conversion of the Gasometer, a set of 19th century gas storage buildings in the district Simmering south of Landstraße, into residential houses. Otherwise, there is nothing of interest in the southern part of the third district.

In the central area of the third district, you will find another "residential attraction": The
Rabenhof is one of many socialist apartment houses build in the 1920ies, but a particularly nice one in terms of its architecture. Built in dark bricks and with many courtyards that cover the enormous size of the property, it looks much like a "normal" apartment house and not like a huge bastion of socialism.

Even though the whole revolution thing didn′t quite work out, the Rabenhof still has its own
stage - originally meant to make culture and "educational things" accessible to the labourers, the Rabenhoftheater is now a popular
subversive theatre for cabaret and comedians.